Massad Ayoob Video "Don't Answer That Door"

I had a veteran city police officer tell me to always answer your door. Why? Because around here, our burglars knock on your door and if nobody's home, they pry the door off and waltz right in. So a burglary turns into a home invasion which turns into a kidnapping, rape, murder, or other personal assault.

Now...what the officer did not say was OPEN your door. Where I live I get a lot of very suspicious looking "solicitors". I look through the peephole and yell "I am not interested". I know my neighbors well enough to know if it's one of them. Never had one press it after that. Both bases covered.

Had one guy straight up pounding on my door. Very scary in fact. Night. Three guys...young guys. Way too late to be knocking on doors to sell anything. I grabbed my firearm and yelled "I'M NOT *&^@#$ INTERESTED" in a very gruff manner. Don't know what that was gonna be but it turned out, for me at least, to be nothing but a scary knock at the door. Never saw them again.

So unless you're front door is Fort Knox-like, please think carefully about completely ignoring a knock with silence as it may be a "reconissance knock" if you will.

But no, don't OPEN that door.

My house is unfortunantly a VERY soft target. Large portriate windows at the front atleast 7 feet wide and 3 feet tall. On top of that we have people come in to help take care of my great grandmother and it may be a different person who we have never met at anytime and they ushally dont bother to ask who it is before telling them to come in (door is unlocked). (unfortunantly she has a plethora of problems that we cant even begin to deal with on our own) And my bed is 6feet from the back door which has a not so nice big window thats like 2.5 feet wide 3.5 feet tall. We also have a sliding glass door with a flimsy lock that could be priedbopen. The good news? I sleep maybe 4 hours have a loaded ar-15 beside my bed.....and im a very light sleeper. I do leave the lights off and the outside light on (makes it impossible to see into my room even cupping ur hands around ur eyes and outting them against the glass) We also live in the country where you cant see the house from the road....
A day home invasion would be bad but one of us would get the ar, and that would be the end of mr.bad guy. Even if they did come through my bedroom window the knife under my pillow would be the end of that. While laying down I can close distance to the door in about the time it takes you to blink. Not braging like im some high speed lowbdrag superman..just think of the prison yard rush stabbings. Only atleast I have a bit of kali under my belt.

I just wish my home didnt scream "HEY COME ROB ME" No chance of convincing either my mother or grandmother to let me bar the windows either

So unless you're front door is Fort Knox-like, please think carefully about completely ignoring a knock with silence as it may be a "reconissance knock" if you will.

Click to expand...

Why are you helping them learn if the house is occupied at the moment? Why would you give up that information? Aside from helping potential thieves, talking through your door also puts you in a bad spot if they kick it in or shoot through it. Best not to be near the thing.

On top of that we have people come in to help take care of my great grandmother and it may be a different person who we have never met at anytime and they ushally dont bother to ask who it is before telling them to come in (door is unlocked).

Click to expand...

The real problem here is that by the time you have determined whether a stranger is a threat or not, it's already too late for you or your AR to do much of anything about it. If you're letting strangers waltz in through unlocked doors, nothing at all stops them from just shooting you right there. People are kind of unrealistic about how fast that can happen. Your door is your main defense.

Put it this way. I'd rather have a locked door and a flintlock for self defense than an unlocked door and an AR.

These are cheap. Whenever this sort of topic comes up I mention them because it's cheap insurance and a cheap upgrade to any door. They force a door kicker to make a lot more noise if you're sleeping and allow you more safely get a look through the peep-hole before opening the door.

The thing is, I dont think someone is going to come walking up to the door intending to kill every one of us, they would be hard pressed to deal with the 5 of us who are a threat before being killed either by firearm or by knife. With as much trafic as my front door gets its unrealistic to lock the door on the way out and back in. On any given day until 8pm there is probably 100-200 trips through the door.

Mainsail, I have one on my bedroom door as well. $22 on Amazon.

Hmmm...

Lots of antisocial people here, I see.



Perhaps my definition of 'answering the door" is different than most. "Answering the door" does not automatically imply "opening the door" with me. It means I've acknowledged the person on the other side of the door.

Kind of like "answering the phone" doesn't automatically mean I'm going to obligate myself in any way to the person on the other end of the line. It just means I've picked up the phone and at least said "Hello!"

Acknowledge or don't acknowledge the person on the other side of the door as you wish, based on the circumstances. Just do it wisely. But it seems completely silly to me to make a broad sweeping statement like "Why are you helping them learn if the house is occupied at the moment?" That's completely ignoring the possibility that other, potentially wiser, options may exist in any given circumstance.

I only open the door for people I know and trust. That is it.

If a stranger comes to the door saying they need to use the phone to dial help, I still won't open. At most, I'll dial help for them.

It may sound cold, but with all the nuts taking advantage of people these days, well, its just sad.

I kind of like living in a society and being part of my community and fear of an extremely unlikely event, which I can still defend against and answer my door, is not going to prevent me from being neighborly. One late Sunday afternoon I answered a knock at my door to find a gentleman going house to house seeking signatures for a petition to get a candidate on the ballot for US Rep in my area. We got to talking and I later actually became involved in the campaign. Had it not been for answering my door I would have missed out on a great opportunity. Another time a neighbor from down the street knocked on my door to alert my water hose was left on and running into the street. I'd never met this person but was glad I answered the door. Now i'm not talking about answering the door at 3 am to a group of masked men but answering the door, after looking out the peephole, at reasonable times of day is not a "highly dangerous" activity. I'm all for taking practical and prudent measures to enhance one's security but never answering one's door is going overboard, imo.

One other thing besides this.......

Yes, we answer. But we do not open the door, or even stand directly in front of it.

Click to expand...

I always have a weapon in my hand down at my side.

We reside adjacent to a recreational area. We have our share of encounters with the unknown. It isn’t uncommon for lost souls to wonder out of the woods on to the open part of the property. Most are what they are common everyday people from different walks of life. Their Map Quest map has not prepared or served them well, the map provided by the park has confused them, and a topographical map along with a compass would make their eyes glaze over.

So with these encounters should I run like hell for the house and prepare to repel all borders. That’s not how it works. We are not paranoid but rather prudent. Of these interactions 99% of those individuals do no harm or mean no harm. The other 1% can be iffy and could be problematic. We don’t have a Pollyanna attitude but ones demeanor can resolve some issues, we also have the option of retreating to defuse a situation, and the potential use of force as a last resort.

For those knock on the door at night situations we have motion detectors and outdoor lighting plus an observation point to see who is at the door. We don’t live in a high crime rate area but we do realize the potential and probability that we could be involved in such an incident.

Thank you for the warning, and my sincere apologies for non-THR posting.

From the other side: If I have to knock or ring the doorbell, I immediately step away from the door, so whoever answers the door can see me and that I'm not in a position to rush the door.
More frequently though, I try to call with my cell, if I have the number.

I do lawn care, and I like to let folks know that I will be around the house, for everyone's peace of mind.

I agree with no answer can suggest no one is home and you may wind up with a hot burglary that would have been avoided by letting someone know the home was occupied. This happened recently a couple years ago in a shooting that made the news. Homeowner heard a knock at about 1:00 AM and ignored it. Sometime later he heard a noise he went to investigate and it was a man attempting to make forced entry into his home. The homeowner had taken a pistol to investigate and fired one shot killing the burglar.

I definitely wouldn't open the door to random knock at 1:00 AM but I'd be disinclined to simply ignore it completely. Moreover, in my neighborhood it is more likely to be someone I know than a criminal. I have an intercom and can talk to anyone at the door via that. I also know a lot of people that have cameras these days. No need to walk up to the door with either option.

and unsolicited callers are turned away toot sweet.

Click to expand...

Just an FYI it is tout suite, from the French tout de suite.

Here in the UK there is no doubt an increase in crime mainly due to immigration levels neverthe less it is fairly safe to answer the door without fear of attack.Home invasions are rare but Burglary is on the increase.An awareness of what might happen if you drop your guard is a good way to approach the subject.Although we have guns they cannot be approved for self protection.The showing of firearms during an incident would immediately cause your certificates to be confiscated.

This thread has got me to thinkin' that I should consider investing in one of those door peep sights or some form of ability to ID folks at my front door before opening it. Granted, there is a window next to my door that I could spread the Venetian blinds and look out, but that also immediately exposes who I am, et cetera.

About 99.9% of the time my doorbell rings it is one of my neighbors who need something, but you never know...

Like a large number of homes in Houston I long ago had burglar bars placed on every window and exterior door on the house.
In fact if I open my front door there is a distance of five feet between me and the burglar bar door so at least I am out of arms reach.
That being said I always look to see who is knocking and try to do my talking with the front door still closed if they are a complete stranger.

You would be too if you had seen Breaking Bad as many times as I have.

Hmmm...

Lots of antisocial people here, I see.

Click to expand...

But it seems completely silly to me to make a broad sweeping statement like "Why are you helping them learn if the house is occupied at the moment?"

Click to expand...

That wasn't a statement but a question. Information really is power. In this case, the information re. whether the residence is occupied or not. Why give out any information at all? If you make a point of talking to those knocking on the door, then a potential thief will be able to learn when the house is empty.

I agree with no answer can suggest no one is home and you may wind up with a hot burglary that would have been avoided by letting someone know the home was occupied.

Click to expand...

Is there some kind of tacit agreement here with the burglars of the world? Do you WANT the burglar to come when you're not there? It seems to me if someone is going to break in, you'll want to be there to take measures like calling the cops immediately and defending the gun safe. There's no duty to cooperate with these people or to make it easier for them.

Cosmoline said:

Do you WANT the burglar to come when you're not there? It seems to me if someone is going to break in, you'll want to be there to take measures like calling the cops immediately and defending the gun safe. There's no duty to cooperate with these people or to make it easier for them.

Click to expand...

In short, YES - If someone breaks in, I don't want to be around...

I'm not sure what it is that you're protecting in you home, but there's nothing in my home so valuable that I'd rather put myself, my wife and my child between it and a violent attacker. They can have my stuff if they want it that badly. I'd rather not be around when they come for it...

I guess it depends on your area.

Two BIG dogs here that greet everyone, so yes, I always answer the door and everyone's been on their best behaviour. Of course it might be because the playful one looks like Satan's dog and they see me hanging onto the collar tightly.